Max Gandolph Portrait, Dommuseum
350 years ago, on July 30th 1668, the Cathedral Chapter elected Maximilian Gandolph Graf von Kuenburg, originally from Graz, to become the Salzburg Archbishop.
The coat of arms and inscription on many buildings such as the Cajetan Church in Salzburg,the Abbey in Seekirchen and the Maria Plain Pilgrimage Church
attest to his role as founder and constructor. The former court library (“Max-Gandolph Library”), the Hohensalzburg castle’s Kuenburg bastion and the Kuenburg Palace are also associated with his name. He particularly made his mark in music history:
His patronage of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber and Georg Muffat, both excellent court musicians, helped Salzburg advance to become a musical epicenter of European ranking. During his reign, Max Gandolph engaged himself in many areas of everyday life. New public agencies and improved safety regulations ensured that the State became decidedly more involved. He was uncompromising in questions of religion with the Protestant expulsion and the persecution of witches overshadowing his reign. The personality of this highly educated baroque ruler and his long-term tenure are being addressed in this exhibition for the first time.
Supplementary information in the form of an accompanying book that covers numerous topics from the Max Gandolph era was produced in cooperation with the University of Salzburg.
Concept and editing: Dr. Christoph Brandhuber, Universitätsarchiv Salzburg, und Ass. Prof. Dr. Ingonda Hannesschläger, Fachbereich Kunst-, Musik- und Tanzwissenschaft.
Image: (c) Dommuseum Salzburg/J. Kral
